Back to School Basics

Kids gather around and listen to these pearls of wisdom from a master educator.

It’s back-to-school time again, so pay attention. This is all going to be on the test.

Wait, there’s going to be a test?

Tests are no picnic for teachers either, you know.

My students ask me that every year. They’re in high school, so you’d think they would know this by now. You might forget everything you study after a test, but if there’s one thing that you should actually remember, even after the test, is that there was a test. If you can’t remember that, what are the chances that you’re going to remember the actual material?

To be fair, I’ve been a teacher for seven years now, and I’m still surprised to hear the question.

But tests are stressful, because they can affect your average, which is some magical number that teachers keep holding over your head that you don’t know how to figure out because you also flunked math. Sadly, there’s no “average” button on your calculator.

Of course, tests are no picnic for teachers either. Students have to take one test, but we have to mark all of them, and figure out how to read everyone’s handwriting and why it seems that everyone in certain parts of the room got the same answers wrong. Maybe it’s something in the air over there. And we can’t look away for a moment.

“Why are you looking at inside your desk? Are you cheating?”

“No, I’m eating.”

“Oh. That’s not allowed either.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not my rule. I think because it looks like cheating.”

Like I said, my students are in high school, but somehow the test papers are always stuck together. You’d think they’d use plates.

It also doesn’t help that, as with absolutely everything I teach, they always ask how they need it for life. I’ll tell you how you need this for life: One day you’re going to grow up and get married, and sometimes someone will be talking, usually while you’re trying to eat, and you’ll have no real interest in what they’re saying, but you have to listen anyway, because if you don’t, there will be a reckoning. Well, the test is that reckoning.

So really what you need are some studying tips.

Great. More stuff to read before the test. I’ll totally get on that.

TIP #1: Take notes. You will never read these notes again, but the very act of writing everything down will help you commit it to memory. Especially since you never really learned how to summarize, so you’re basically writing over the entire book, word for word. Sure, there are ways out of taking notes. For instance, you can photocopy someone else’s notes before the test, on the theory that simply owning more notes makes you smarter. But it doesn’t have the same effect, even though you’re doing everything else right -- you have the notes, you’re never looking at them again, etc. But somehow, something’s still missing.

TIP #2: Use a highlighter. Or don’t. When I was growing up, every back-to-school supplies list included some kind of highlighter, or more than one, and I never had any idea what to do with them. Kind of like the reinforcements, which were also on the list every year, even though we never got to the lesson that told us what to do with them. I didn’t find out until years later that I was supposed to be using the highlighters for studying.

But apparently, what you’re supposed to do is you use the highlighter to color in important words in your book, especially if you have to return the textbook at the end of the year. As you can see, the student last year did the same thing, so by the time you’re done with it, there will not be a single word in the entire book that is not highlighted, including page numbers. And apparently, doing this magically helps you absorb information. It’s like a supermarket scanner.

I think that ideally, though, you’re supposed to highlight the important words in your notes, as if most of what you wrote in your notes is not essential. But if half your notes are not essential, why did you write them down? Were you just writing every word your teacher said, like, “And then, in 1765, the colonists signed the--Daniel, stop cooking pasta in class!--Declaration of Independence,” and you wrote all that down, and then you come back, while studying, and you say, “Well, I probably don’t have to highlight the part about the pasta.”

And then, once the important parts are outlined, you know what you have to study, when you actually do. So highlighting isn’t studying, it is, at best, reading absolutely all the material to figure out which of it you don’t have to read.

TIP #3: Study a little bit every night. According to experts, whenever you sit down to study, you really only remember the first and last things that you learn. The first thing, because that’s when you still thought that you were going to absorb everything, and you were like, “Okay one page down, 90 million to go,” and the last thing, because you always remember the last thing that was said, which is why, when you grow up, and your wife asks, “What did I just say?” then even if you were concentrating on eating, you can still repeat the last thing she just said, even without necessarily knowing what it means.

So the key is to study in several really short sessions with really long breaks, so there’s not that much middle stuff. All that middle stuff is going into your extremely short term memory that you pray sticks around until after the test, rather than flying out of your head before the teacher hands out the test papers. This is why, if you are going to cram, you want to do it as close to the test as is humanly possible. You want to stay up all night studying, so that, when you get to the test, you’re definitely going to be the most tired person there. And the guy everyone’s going to want to sit next to, for some reason.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Mordechai Schmutter writes a weekly humor column for Hamodia, a monthly humorous advice column for The Jewish Press, and a comic strip for The 20s and 30s of Brooklyn. He is also the author of the books, Don’t Yell “Challah” in a Crowded Matzah Bakery, A Clever Title Goes Here, This Side Up, Cholent Mix, and What Is This - Some Kind of Joke? all published by Israel Book Shop. In his spare time, which doesn't exist, he attempts to teach Language Arts to a bunch of high school guys, most of whom are usually too upset that he showed up on any given day to even pay attention to his lessons. He is also available to do stand-up comedy. He lives in New Jersey, but no longer remembers why.

I’ve been dating a young woman for the past two years and we are starting to think about marriage. The problem is that she is not Jewish. I would want her to convert, but in a way where there would be no doubt about its validity, so that we and our kids don’t have problems later on. How do you recommend that I proceed?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

I appreciate your desire to do the right thing and proceed in an authentic way.

The process of conversion is challenging and involves a process of a year or two. This benefits the person converting, to ensure he fully appreciates the responsibilities he is taking on.

According to the Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch), a valid conversion replicates the experience at Mount Sinai of 3,300 years ago, when the Jewish nation accepted the Torah. For your friend to convert, she must:

believe that Judaism is the true religion, not just accept it by default

study what it says in the Torah

commit to observe all the Torah's commandments

Further, a conversion must be motivated for the sincere purpose of getting close to God and His Torah, not for ulterior motives. Thus, your friend would have to embrace Judaism and the Torah for its own sake, not in order to marry you. She should have the exact same desire to convert even with you entirely out of the picture.

If your friend studies Judaism and feels it is right for her, she would then approach an Orthodox conversion court and explain her situation. The court would then decide if it feels she is a sincere candidate for conversion. If yes, she would begin the lengthy process of studying and practicing to become a true convert.

Of course, to have a successful relationship, you will also need a high level of appreciation and commitment to Judaism. Perhaps you could begin your own study program to discover how Torah values enhance our lives and form the bedrock of civilization.

You should endeavor to live near a Jewish community which has adult education programs, rabbis you can consult with, Shabbat hospitality programs, etc.

In 1273 BCE (Jewish year 2488), Moses completed his farewell address to the Jewish people, and God informed Moses that the day of his death was approaching (Deut. 31:14). Amazingly, the anniversary of Moses' completing his teaching coincides with the date in 1482 of the first printing of the standard format used for Jewish Bibles today: vowel signs, accents, translation (Targum), and Rashi commentary.

Lack of gratitude is at the root of discontent. In order to be consistently serene, we must master the attribute of being grateful to the Creator for all His gifts. As the Torah (Deuteronomy 26:11) states, "Rejoice with all the good the Almighty has given you." This does not negate our wanting more. But it does mean that we have a constant feeling of gratitude since as long as we are alive, we always have a list of things for which to be grateful.

[Solomon] was wiser than all men (I Kings 5:11), even wiser than fools (Midrash).

What does the Midrash mean by "wiser than fools"?

A man of means was once a Sabbath guest at the home of the Chofetz Chaim. He insisted upon paying the sage in advance for the Sabbath meals - an insulting demand. To everyone's surprise, the Chofetz Chaim accepted the money.

After the Sabbath the Chofetz Chaim forced the guest to take the money back. He explained, "Had I refused to accept the money before the Sabbath, the thought that he was imposing upon me might have distracted from the man's enjoying the spirit of the Sabbath. Although it was foolish of him to feel this way, I wished to put his mind at rest."

Not everyone thinks wisely all the time. Some people have foolish ideas. Yet if we oppose them, they may feel they have been wronged. Insisting on the logic of our own thinking may not convince them in the least. In such instances, it may require great wisdom to avoid offending someone, yet not submitting to his folly.

By accepting his guest's money, knowing that he would return it to him after the Sabbath, the Chofetz Chaim wisely accommodated this man's whim without compromising on his own principles.

A wise person may be convinced by a logical argument, but outsmarting a fool truly requires genius.

Today I shall...

try to avoid offending people whom I feel to be in the wrong, without in any way compromising myself.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...